The Tricks of Temptations
by Secrets-and-lies-make-me
Summary: Set in Season 5, after Lindsey left Lucas at the altar- how does Peyton feel about him now she watched him prepared to give his life up to another woman? And how does Lucas feel about Peyton? Please enjoy and review for more! Rated T just to be safe. x
1. Chapter 1

****

Okay, so this is my first Leyton fanfiction. Make that my first OTH fanfiction. Ever.

I've been watching the show for forever and a day and I finally decided to write some fanfiction about it! Fingers crossed it wasn't a stupid decision to make!

Apologies on any spelling errors or bits that don't make sense (I've been having a lot of trouble uploading my fics onto this account) / OOC-ness. It doesn't help that this is an American show with American people and I'm not TECHNICALLY American.

So the characters don't belong to me, etc etc- and I know that there is A LOT of Leyton fanfiction out there and some of it can be quite similiar but I am quite sure I haven't read a fanfiction like this one. If there's another fic like this then it is just a coincidence; anyway, I'll probably try and make it bizarre to make sure it isn't like any other. In other shows I write for, people can be pretty bitchy about stuff like this, so I just wanted to make it clear. :)

Okaaaayyyy...so this is set in Season 5 but it's kind of my version after the wedding. To make things clear- Lindsey left Lucas at the altar exactly the same as she did in the real events, but from then on I've kind of mixed things up so that I can set the story off. Well, I'll stop rambling and then you'll be able to see.

Hope you enjoy and please review- PM's are welcomed, too! 

**

* * *

**

Peyton sat quietly in her office, cupping a glass of whisky. She had spent most of the last week here, working...trying to work, anyway. It was proving to be near impossible. She couldn't concentrate at all. But still she kept up the charade.

It had been a week since Lindsey had left Lucas at the altar, and Peyton had only spoken to him once, when he had been drunk in the bar. She was trying her best to forget that memory, but it was proving to be difficult. She had _seen_ Lucas, too, briefly, when she was driving around town. It cleared her head, just driving along the roads, no music, just a world of infinite possibilities ahead of her.

Who was she kidding? She couldn't leave. What would be the point?

__

Look how well it worked out the last time.

Sighing, Peyton pushed the glass of whisky away from her, and picked up her pen. It was getting late, but this paperwork really had to be done.

"Peyton." Peyton jumped and dropped the pen loudly in shock. Lucas watched her from the doorway.

"How long have you been there?" She demanded.

"Not long. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Peyton avoided his gaze and returned back to her work. "Forget it."

There was a long awkward silence. Peyton was increasingly aware of his presence. She could feel his gaze burning into her, but she stubbornly continued to scribble down figures on the paper in front of her, until the silence was almost painful.

It wasn't going to be her that spoke first. No way.

"What, so now you aren't even talking to me?" Lucas asked. Peyton looked up at him briefly, then returned her attention to her work.

"I'm kinda busy, Lucas, can we just..._not_?"

"_Not_...what, exactly?"

"This! Can we just not argue, please?"

"I don't want to argue." Lucas said quietly, and he suddenly sounded younger, defeated and lost. "I just want to talk."

Peyton hesitated. "Well, maybe wasting time running through your 'problems' isn't my issue right now. Did you think of that?"

"Whoa whoa whoa- what does that mean- my _'problems'_?" Lucas demanded. "In case you've forgotten, Peyton, a week ago my fiancé left me at the altar. Does that sound like a problem to you?"

"Not one that you can't fix." Peyton muttered. Lucas stared at her in shock.

"Fix it? Okay. How would you fix it? By calling her, trying to find her and getting her answer phone every damn time? No, that's me. Your approach would be, I don't know, drawing a picture, locking yourself away, or nearly killing yourself by driving around town?"

"Stay out of my business, Lucas."

"Like you've stayed right out of mine?"

Peyton sighed. "Look, Lucas, you've come here to talk about Lindsey and how tragic all of this is and the truth is, I couldn't give a damn even if I wanted to. I'm really the wrong person- just go bug somebody else."

"I just want to talk." Lucas repeated quietly. Peyton almost cracked then. Part of her wanted to go over to him and hug him so tightly it hurt. But then she remembered his drunken words from a couple of nights before; it gave her the strength she needed to sit back down. She had been avoiding him ever since.

"We aren't friends, Lucas. We can't talk any more."

"Why?"

"Because you hate me, remember? You wish I had never come back because I ruined your life, right? Is this all sounding familiar to you now, Lucas?"

Lucas looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry- Peyton, you know I was drunk. I didn't mean that at all."

"I don't know that, Lucas; maybe some part of you has been wanting to say that to me ever since LA three years ago?"

A wave of annoyance washed up over Lucas, and the lost, apologetic expression on his face became hard and angry.

"You know what, Peyton? Maybe you're right. But if you're unhappy with the way things turned out, you've only got yourself to blame."

"Me?" Peyton exclaimed, "It's _my_ fault _you_ ambushed _me_ with that stupid proposal?"

"No." Lucas told her in a low voice. "It's your fault for saying no."

"_I didn't say no_!"

"Well, you didn't exactly say yes, did you?" Lucas spat. "Things could have been so different..." His voice trailed off and for a second or so, he looked right through her, lost in thoughts of what could have been. Peyton bit her lip, as the same thoughts flashed through her own mind. Her and Lucas. Together. Happy. A world where Lindsey was just his editor. The wedding yesterday could have been their wedding, had things turned out differently; only, of course, _she _would have said' I do' and they would have lived happily ever after.

The End.

"I would have given you forever, Peyton. I could have given you always."

"You want to know how you get always, Lucas?" Peyton's voice was dangerously low. "When the vicar asks you whether or not you take the other woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, you don't say 'I do'!" She lifted her fingers and pressed them against her temple, as if her sudden out burst had given her a headache.

Lucas stopped his pacing, and his eyes focused on the woman in front of him, who was now stubbornly trying to avoid his gaze.

"That's-that's what this is all about?" He asked in disbelief. Peyton looked down at her hands. With a growl of anger, Lucas's hand shot out as he threw her whisky glass against the wall in one smooth movement. Peyton jumped, and stared as the glass shattered, sending fragments and the contents cascading down onto the floor.

"Is that what this is about, Peyton?" Lucas demanded furiously. She didn't reply. He took a step forward and repeated the question. "That's why you've been avoiding me and not coming to work and- and driving like a maniac around town?" There was still no reply. Peyton couldn't look at him, but she could feel the anger radiating off his body and he watched her and waited. _I can't give you the answer you need,_ she thought, _I can't afford to give you anything right now._

But her silence only made him want the answer more. "Look at me." Lucas said evenly. "Peyton, look at me!" Peyton could hear the desperation in his voice, and it made her stomach turn. In a second, before she even knew that he was going to do it, Lucas had moved forward and grabbed her upper arms tightly. Immediately, Peyton stiffened. His skin was touching hers, but his grip was far from gentle, and his touch was bruising. Even so, it took everything Peyton had left inside her to stop herself from collapsing into him.

"Is that it, huh, Peyton?" Lucas repeated. He shook her fiercely. "Look at me!"

This time, the urgency in his words was too much for Peyton to simply ignore him. She finally met his gaze and held it silently for a few seconds. She could see the fire raging in his eyes and she was scared. Not scared of what he would do- scared of what he would _say_. There's more than one way to hurt a person, after all.

"Let go of me."

"Not until you give me an answer."

Peyton voice was quiet, but steady. "Let go of me. You're hurting me, Luke."

Lucas loosened his grip until his hands were barely making contact with her skin. He didn't move away from her, though, and the message was clear; he wanted to talk about this. _Needed_ to talk about this.

"Please...Peyton. Just answer the question."

And for reasons she didn't know, she did answer it. Maybe it was because he was pleading, maybe it was just because he was Lucas Scott, and she owed him the truth. Maybe she just couldn't say no to him.

"Yes." She whispered. Lucas turned away from her and sighed as he ran his hands down over his face. Peyton hugged her arms around her body, and shivered without even noticing.

"Jesus, Peyton." He sighed. "Why couldn't you have said something?"

Peyton laughed bitterly. "Yeah. I should've. How do you think I could have worded it, huh, Lucas? And when? Right after the ceremony?"

Lucas turned to her.

"You're angry at me because I actually agreed to marry my _fiancé_?"

"Ever since I got back, you haven't exactly made it easy for me, Luke. Sure, you're with Lindsay but then...God, you're so confusing to be around!"

"And you're simple?"

Peyton lifted her hands to her face. "I got back and I told myself to pretend that everything was okay, and I screwed up with Lindsey, I know- but you didn't make it easy for me! Like- like when Brooke's store opened, and you said- you said the bartender wasn't good enough for me, like you actually gave a damn! And then I kissed you, and you kissed me back, and then I find out that you proposed to Lindsey-"

"And she said yes, Peyton! Yes, not no! Is that the part that bothers you the most?"

"_For the last time I didn't say no_!" Peyton shrieked. She breathed and tried to calm herself back down. "You knew how I felt about you and you- you said yes to Lindsey. You're right, you did nothing wrong there. But if you really think that I can be around you after watching you agree to marry her without a moments hesitation, then-"

"If it bothered you that much, why didn't you say something-?"

"I wanted to!" Peyton shouted. Lucas watched her as the words began to pour out. "I wanted to stand up there in that church and tell you how much I loved you in front of everybody but I couldn't. I should have. But I couldn't." A single tear glided down her pale skin, and she brushed it away impatiently. "There was...some part of me...a tiny part that just thought..._'He isn't going to go through with this.'_"

Peyton paused, then exhaled. "Guess I was wrong."

"What happened to letting go, Peyton? Guess I was wrong to think you were being honest then." He took a step towards her and spat out his next words.

"People always leave, huh, Peyton? Your mom, your dad, Ellie...Did you ever consider that maybe it's you that drives them away? Maybe people are happy to get away from you."

He had crossed the line and he knew it. Eyes blazing, Peyton's palm curved and slapped him hard across the face. Lucas closed his eyes as the regret of what he had just said hit him just as hard as she had. The hand that Peyton had just used to slap him hovered in the air as Lucas met her gaze and something passed between them.

"Luke..." Peyton whispered brokenly. The next thing she knew, he was right in front of her, and then somehow, they were kissing; chaste kisses, tentative, exploring kisses, because they had only kissed once in almost three years, right before Lucas proposed to Lindsey, but that was different. It felt familiar, but so good- it tasted like better times, it tasted sweet despite the bitter words that they had just thrown at each other. But the innocence of it couldn't last. It had been too long, and their desire was unbearable. The kiss became faster and deeper and fiercer. Peyton wrapped her arms around Lucas to pull him closer to her, and shivered as she felt his fingers slip underneath the back of her shirt, and it felt so right even though it was so wrong; but if this would get her sent to Hell for all Eternity, is was worth the risk for Peyton Sawyer.

"Peyton-" Lucas whispered. She continued to kiss him.

"I don't hate you." Lucas gasped as they quickly pulled apart for breath. Their eyes met and Peyton nodded, lost in the daze of his kisses. She pulled him back to her, and his hands cupped her face as he kissed her; kisses that were bruising, yet somehow gentle at the same time. Gentle wasn't a word some people would use to describe this scene, though. The only sound in the room was the sound of their loud moans. Peyton groaned as Lucas moved down to kiss the part of her neck that he knew was especially sensitive.

"God, Luke." She moaned, but no matter how good it felt, she missed his lips against hers. They stumbled over to the wall. As Lucas slid his cool hands underneath her shirt, her back made contact with the wall, and in one movement, she pulled herself up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and kissing him harder than ever.

* * *

****************

****************

In life, there will always be something that is forbidden; something that you can't have. The trick is to figure out whether you want this thing so badly because of a deeper meaning, or just because it's forbidden. Because once something is forbidden, suddenly, it appeals to a person a lot more. It will always be there, lurking in the back of their mind. Temptation will grow and grow. Eventually, their only option will be to take it, to snatch up what is forbidden. But what happens afterwards? If something isn't yours anymore, even if you were so sure it meant nothing to you before this was stated, afterwards you will want it. It's a law of life. You always want what you can't have; always. But sometimes, people get so caught up with the temptation, that they don't think about the Afterwards, the making or breaking. If there was something deeper, then giving in will not mean the end. But what if the whole attraction was based on how good it felt because you knew it was wrong?

Then it all ends.

Some people can never be sure. Understandable, really. Why risk losing so much when you don't have anything concrete to gain? Also a law of life.

And another law of life? Sometimes you just need to give in and screw the consequences.


	2. Chapter 2

**Very quick chapter because I'm in a major rush today! Thanks to everyone who responded to the first of many chapters, especially the people who reviewed. **

**Just to clear a few things up- -X-Br0kenBranch-X- correctly pointed out that I screwed up the timeline. That's my problem- I write the fic all in one go but I don't write it on chronological order- for example,I wrote this chapter totally backwards- so even though I read over it loads of times I still miss the mistakes- chances are there are probably mistakes in this chap, so apologies for errors in advance!**

**SOOO-The wedding was set a week ago from the first chapter. Any question please ask and please review for more!

* * *

**

**There are many things in life that can make a broken heart break just that little bit more. Small things, like a few cruel words - bigger things, like a rejection from somebody that you love. Hearts are easy to break, but almost impossible to truly mend. **

**Waking up, cold and alone on the couch in her office broke Peyton Sawyer's already broken heart just that last, little bit more. **

Hours passed. She tried to forget what had happened the night before, but it was impossible. It was all seared into her memory forever - the taste of him, the feel of his bare, warm skin, moving against her, moving inside of her. She had aches in places she really didn't want to think about. Plus, she had his scent all over her; even after she had showered and changed, she felt like she could still smell it.

She soon realised after waiting that Lucas Scott was not going to turn up at her door. She took it upon herself to take the dive. At lunchtime, she left the running of the studio in Haley's more-than-capable hands and drove to his house. She sat for a full ten minutes before she could psych herself into getting out of the car and going to the door. But suddenly she was walking along the sidewalk, and she was knocking on the front door and when he answered, she knew it was going to be one of the hardest conversations she had ever had to endure in her life.

"I'm...I'm sorry I didn't stick around last night...in the office, after-" He broke off awkwardly. Peyton swallowed and looked at the ground. She could feel his gaze flickering over her, and she found herself being thankful that she had changed since the night before. He, however, was wearing the same blue shirt, with the jeans and dark sneakers. She wondered if he had even been back home.

"Where have you been?" She asked. It took her a few seconds to realise that the words had even come out of her mouth, and a few more for them to sink in for Lucas; they hovered like a thick, grey cloud, laden with rain above them both.

"Just...around."

"I called you."

"I wasn't really in the mood to talk then , Peyton." Lucas admitted quietly. Peyton looked up at him, searching his face tentatively.

"But you are now." It was a statement, not a question. Lucas walked past her and paced to the other side of the room. His face was no longer visible to her, but his shoulders were tense, and she could see that his fists were clenched.

He didn't speak. The silence grew. Considering that he wanted to talk, he wasn't showing any signs of beginning a conversation.

Peyton took it upon herself once again to make the first move. She took a small step in his direction. "Are you okay?"

Lucas snorted bitterly, like her question amused him and pissed him off equally. When he spoke, his voice was hollow. "I'm sorry...for what I said last night. I was wrong."

"It doesn't matter."

"No. It does." Lucas turned to face her, moving closer slowly. "I didn't mean to hurt you Peyton." He was directly in front of her now. His hand jerked up to her face but his touch was so light and quick on her skin that she thought that she must have imagined it. "I've never meant to hurt you- all these years, all I've ever wanted was for you to be happy- " A shadow of a smile flickered over his lips. "I used to think of ways to make you smile. I didn't use them- I didn't know you then. But even when I did...All I ever seem to do is make you miserable."

"That isn't true, Lucas, and you know it." Peyton objected softly, but Lucas waved it away.

"I just...I don't know now...what to do for the best." He had moved forwards until they were so close that their foreheads were touching. Peyton looked up into his eyes and saw a mixture of emotions. Even if he hadn't changed, even if she could smell whisky on his breath, his scent was as mind-blowing as ever, and it took her right back to the office, the whole scene playing in front of her eyes vividly.

"I want you." Lucas whispered raggedly, and Peyton's stomach flipped as she heard the raw need in his voice. She wanted to reach out and run her hands over him, over his skin, but she didn't; she _couldn't_. "But I want you to be happy."

"_You_ make me happy."

Lucas winced and closed his eyes at her words. "No. I don't. I can't."

He moved away from her again, and she missed the close contact immediately.

"Why do we have to do all this?" He asked her harshly, desperately. "Why can't it be simple between us?" He pushed his fingers through his hair impatiently. "Why can't I just be the guy and you just be the girl, that fall in love and drive off into the sunset together? Because that's what I want, Peyton, more than anything else. But- every time I think we've got a little bit closer to it, something happens. I'm starting to think..."

"What?" Peyton asked, although she almost instinctively already knew, "Starting to think what?"

"I'm starting to think that neither of us can be happy whilst we're still in each others lives."

"Lucas, that isn't true." She struggled to find the words to explain how she felt. "From the very first time we spoke, there's been something between us- and there might have been times when it scared me, when I didn't like it, but I've never wished for it to go away, not really. Because...Luke, I feel like if it went away, if...if you went away from me, then...a part of me would go away too."

"Think about it, Peyton." Lucas was almost pleading with her now. "I've only ever caused you trouble, and...I made you sit back and watch Lindsay and I, and I knew how much it was hurting you, but I carried on."

"I love you, Lucas." Peyton told him quickly. "No matter what. Always have. Always will." She took a deep breath. "But I need to know what last night was." Her hands nervously painted agitated circles in the air. "I need to know if it meant anything to you, or if it was just-"

"Sex?" Lucas asked bluntly. Peyton felt herself blushing, as she avoided his gaze. "If you ever take my word on anything in this world again, Peyton Sawyer, take my word on this; last night wasn't just sex. It's never just been about sex."

"Then why did you leave? Why didn't you stay? We could have talked. We needed to talk."

"We're talking now, aren't we?" Lucas pointed out. He saw the look on Peyton's face and continued. "I know it isn't the same. I'm sorry. I just- it just- I didn't know exactly what it meant then. For you." He caught her gaze and held it intensely. "For us. I didn't want to do the morning-after thing and make it all awkward."

"It was always going to be awkward." Peyton supplied with a tired smile. "Even...even if it was just sex-"

"But it wasn't." He assured her. Peyton nodded timidly.

"I know. I know that now."

Lucas sighed and paced around the room. "I should have been there, when you woke up...I-I should have been there to explain it all to you and-"

"It doesn't matter. Really, Luke."

Lucas sighed and sat down slowly. "I hate this - that it's me just making things difficult...and I want you to be happy, but I can't help being selfish- I want to be happy too."

Peyton walked towards Lucas and sat down slowly beside him. She had no idea what she was going to say until she had already said it.

"Were you happy with Lindsay?"

His eyes shot up to her face as he searched for the motive behind her question. "Why would you ask that?"

"Luke..."Peyton took his hand carefully. "I need to tell me the truth, okay?" He nodded. "Were you happy with Lindsay? In any way?" She saw him hesitate. "Please."

There was a pause. Lucas finally nodded.

"Yeah. I was happy. Lindsay is...an amazing woman. Part of me did love her. And it was so - _special_, just to be the guy, who got his girl, and ended up living happily ever after." He winced. "I need to work on my ending though, huh?"

But Peyton hadn't heard that part. All she could hear was what he had just said, ringing in her ears. His girl. Lindsay was his girl. She made him happy.

She felt his eyes on her face, scanning her expression, and she forced a smile. Leaning over, she pressed a kiss against his forehead and pulled away quickly. "I really love you, Luke."

Just like that, she was gone, leaving a confused man and her scent in the air around him, her words echoing in his ears. Peyton Sawyer knew what she was going to do.

* * *

"Peyton?" Brooke called out as she walked into the house, tossing her keys onto an available surface and slipping out of her coat. She rooted through her shopping bags, laden with goodies for the night ahead. She walked into the living room and saw the kitchen light on, as she set her bags down on the coffee table. ", I hope you're ready to slap on a smile, because I have got wine, I have got ice-cream, and I have got a movie that is sure to make both of us-"

She stopped as she entered the kitchen and saw her best friend sat at the counter, the cordless phone and a half empty glass of scotch beside her as she stared, shell-shocked into space.

"-Cry." Brooke finished limply. She saw the tears glistening in Peyton's eyes and hurried over to her. "Honey, what is it?"

"Oh God, Brooke, I've done something so stupid-"

"Oh, it wasn't stupid, honey! You couldn't help it. Anyway, it wasn't just you-Luke was there, wasn't he? It doesn't sound like he was quick to push you away-!"

"Not that." Peyton whispered. Tears, blackened by her thick mascara, fell down her pale cheeks, leaving a dark trail on her skin. "It isn't that- I just wanted him to be happy- but I didn't really think she-"

Brooke frowned, confused. She could just understand the upset words flowing out of Peyton's mouth, but she couldn't decipher exactly what they meant.

"Who? You didn't think who would do what?" Brooke asked gently. Peyton stared right through her, her eyes wide and haunted. Minutes of silence pass by, and Brooke found herself becoming more and more scared and concerned for her friend and her hurried confession. What exactly had Peyton done that she regretted so much? Maybe she really _was_ just talking about the night she had spent with Lucas.

But deep down, Brooke knew this was a lie. Deep down, looking at her best friend, she knew that Peyton's state wasn't just because of the night she had spent with Lucas. She knew that there was something else going on.

Sighing, she reached out and took Peyton's hand. Peyton looked down as Brooke squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"Okay, P. Sawyer," Brooke whispered, "Tell me everything."

* * *

Peyton walked home from work that night from the office. She had loads of work to do, but staying there, the night after The Night With Lucas was too painful. She couldn't concentrate; just when she thought that she had worked around it, she would catch his scent, and then she would be reduced to scribbled drawings on the back of sheets of music and bills. At about 10 p.m, she gave up. Leaving her car at the club, she walked through the night as the sun set over Tree Hill and darkness took it's place, curling inside every nook, and comforting her with the silence in brought.

Eventually, she arrived home. There were no lights on inside the building, and she wondered where Brooke was at that moment- she really could have used somebody to talk to-

"Peyton."

Peyton turned quickly around, startled, to find Lucas stood behind her, emerging from the shadows. She immediately relaxed, and pulled her outstretched hand back away from the door.

"Lucas, I need to tell you something." Peyton blurted out in a rush. "Earlier today, I-I did something I need to-"

The words had been on the tip of her tongue, when she was interrupted by the sudden violent ringing of a cell phone. Peyton watched over as Lucas reached slowly into his pocket and pulled out the phone. He open it and paused, frozen.

The phone continued to ring insistently. Peyton frowned.

"Aren't you going to-?" She began to speak but was silenced as Lucas extended his arm and passed her the phone. She held it carefully and looked down at the screen. As soon as her mind registered the name of the caller flashing on the small screen, her heart skipped a beat. More than a beat. For a second, it felt like she was choking, like she couldn't breathe.

_Lindsay_.

She looked across at Luke and tried to hide how much seeing that name, those seven little letters, had affected her.

"Are you going to speak to her?"

Lucas couldn't meet Peyton's eyes. He moved as though he wanted to step closer to her, but changed his mind at the last second, shifting uneasily. "I already have spoken to her."

Peyton swallowed. It felt like all of her nightmares, all of the fears that had kept her awake recently were coming true all at once. "Oh. " She attempted a small smile. "And?"

Lucas exhaled deeply. "And..." He hesitated. "She's here."

"Here?"

"Yeah. "

Peyton was no longer in control of her own mouth; she heard the polite words but she couldn't control them. "Well, that's good. You guys have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah. We do. And we have." Lucas paused. "She wants me back, Peyton."

It felt like her heart was breaking, only physically this time.

"And you? Do you want her back?" Peyton asked quietly. Lucas dragged his hand down over his face wearily, as if trying to wipe away the growing expression that revealed his guilt in all of its glory.

"I'm sorry, Peyton-"

"No-" Peyton uttered.

"Had I known- had I known that there was a chance- she wasn't answering my calls, I'd just about given up, it was so _difficult_-"

"Whereas I was so _easy_." Peyton whispered dully.

"I didn't say that-" Lucas began, but he stopped suddenly and bit his lip. "Look, I know this is the last thing you want to here right now, Peyton, but...Lindsay's waiting for me back at home and...well, I said I wouldn't be gone long."

"Well you wouldn't want to keep her waiting." Peyton forced her face into a completely fake smile that looked a lot more like a grimace. Lucas stayed still, suddenly uncertain.

Peyton moved to the front door and began fumbling with her keys. Her hands were shaking so much she couldn't even pick out the right one, let alone insert it into the slot.

She glanced over at Lucas, but didn't meet his eyes. "Go."

"Peyton, I - there's more."

Peyton laughed bitterly. "Let me guess, you guys are eloping?" Lucas looked down at the ground, and her mouth fell open in shock. "What?"

"We're not...we haven't even talked about that yet - the first wedding was less than a month ago, I don't think we're ready to start planning the second. But I do know that we're never going to _be_ ready if we stay here."

"You're leaving Tree Hill?" Peyton asked, her voice ringing with disbelief. "You can't! This is your home, Lucas!"

"Home is where the heart is, Peyton. Why would I stay in Tree Hill?" Peyton felt sick at his words. He watched her, his face blank, the only sign of his distress being his clenched fists, and waited, as if he wanted, _needed_ her to answer the question for him.

Instead, she turned away from him and tried again with the door.

"I really should've seen this coming. I was stupid enough to think that by trying to help, I- I would feel better, less guilty, and now it's backfired and I- I just-"

"What are you talking about?" Lucas frowned, confused. Peyton hesitated, but finally managed to open the door, and entered the house, leaving Lucas alone in the shadows.

* * *

When Brooke returned back to the house later that night, she was greeted with a sight that was becoming all too familiar; Peyton, curled up on the couch, hugging a pillow to her body as she sobbed uncontrollably into her hands.

"Oh God, P. Sawyer..." She began sympathetically, hurrying to sit beside her.

"He's leaving." Peyton sobbed into her best friends shoulder uncontrollably. "Lucas is leaving, Brooke."

Brooke's eyes widened. She gently pulled away and held Peyton at arms length, so that she could see her face. "What? Since when?"

Tears streamed down Peyton's face. "Since Lindsay came home." Her face crumpled. "They're back together, Brooke. After everything. They're back together and they're going and...I- I can't-"

Brooke pulled Peyton back into a tight embrace and bit her lip. "It's okay, honey. Just let it all out. It's all gonna be okay." They both knew her words were a lie, but what else could Brooke say? All she could do was sit back and watch as her best friend's heart broke in front of her eyes once again.


End file.
